Users and security overview
CCIS Payroll controls access to the program and its functions to people who possess logins and passwords that it recognizes. Some such Users, such as Admin - the system Administrator, are pre-defined. The Administrator adds others as necessary.
In this chapter, you learn:
• How CCIS Payroll controls access to the program
• How to control access to sections of the program
• How to add and delete Users
• How to assign and change passwords
• How to do a security audit
• How to terminate password protection
The Logon procedure
CCIS Payroll has an optional security system that validates users and restricts the areas they are permitted to access. If security is enabled, anyone who wants to start CCIS Payroll must pass two security tests:
1. They must enter a unique User Name, called a Login, and 2. Know the password that is associated with the Login.
The CCIS Payroll Login window.
CCIS Payroll stores User Names and passwords in the Windows Registry. The password is concealed using sophisticated encryption techniques that make it next to impossible for anyone, including our support personnel, to discover the correct password.
Adding a User
Users are added by someone with System Maintenance rights. Users with this right have a User option on the File menu.
To add a User;
1. Choose File | User from the Main Menu. The Add or Change User Information window displays.
2. Enter a unique name for this User into the Login field. User names can be up to 15 characters long. (If the User Name is already assigned, the rest of this window fills with the particulars of that User.)
3. Enter the User’s real name into the Name field. Real names can be up to 30 characters.
4. Enter the Password.
5. Confirm the Password in the Confirm Password field.
6. Select on each Security Zone that this User is allowed to enter.
7. Choose the Save button to save.
Changing a User's password
Users can change their own passwords at Login. In cases where a User loses or forgets their password, or for other security reasons, a System administrator can change the password.
1. To change a User, choose File | User from the Main Menu.
2. Enter the User’s login into the Login box. (The rest of this window fills with the particulars of that User.)
3. Enter the new Password.
4. Confirm the new Password in the next box.
5. Select the Save button to save.
Deleting a User
A System Administrator can delete Users.
1. Choose File | User from the Main Menu.
2. Enter the User’s login into the Login box. (The rest of this window fills with the particulars of that User.)
3. Select the Delete button.
Security zones
You are able to restrict access to specific areas of CCIS Payroll to protect against improper changes, or to conceal sensitive information such as the Firm’s payroll. There are five Security Zones.
• Access Firm’s Payroll - The Firm’s payroll Client number is identified in the Firm record.
The right to access the Firm’s payroll Client is restricted to Users with this right.
• Payroll Recording and Reports - This controls access to Calculations and Reports. Users with this right can also back up or restore the current Client. They cannot change the Tax Tables, install any maintenance or update disks, or access the Client or Employee files.
• Program Maintenance - The right to install updates and perform other tasks related to keeping the program current. This right allows the User to access the Firm. However, a User with Program Maintenance rights cannot alter the Tax Tables.
• System Maintenance - The right to add and delete Pay Years, add and delete Users, change the Tax Tables and perform other tasks that can effect every User and Client.
• Client/Employee File Maintenance - The right to change the Client and Employee files and to back up or restore all Clients.
You grant the right to enter a specific zone when you add a new User. You can change a User’s rights at any time by choosing File | User from the Main Menu. If this option isn’t available to you, log in as a User with the proper rights. Choose File | Logoff [user name] to do so.
Fingerprints
CCIS Payroll records when a User logs in to the program and tracks any changes a User makes to a file.
If you need to know who performed an action, there are several ways to find it out. For example, to trace a sequence of payroll postings:
1. Choose the Reports link, then the Open button and choose the History report.
2. Select the Check Date of the first item you want to look at.
3. Next, select the down arrow that appears.
4. You learn who made the posting, when it was done, what module they were using, and the Pay Period.
Similar information is available for entries into the Employee and Client master files. To view the statistics for either file:
1. Choose the Open button and retrieve the record.
2. Choose Help | About. The following information appears.
How to terminate and reestablish password protection
You are able to disable password protection and the Logon procedure. If you choose to do so, all password protection for all files, including the Firm, is eliminated.
You also lose the ability to know who changed a file. All users become "admin". This means that anyone who can access your computer or hard drive is able to use CCIS Payroll to read, print, and alter your payroll data incognito.
To terminate password protection:
1. Logon as "admin".
2. Choose File | Disable security.
3. Choose Yes.
To reestablish password security, 1. Choose File | Enable security.
2. Log on.